Contemporary Dance in Japan: New Wave in Dance and Butoh After the 1990S by Kazuko Kuniyoshi

Contemporary Dance in Japan: New wave in dance and butoh after the 1990s by Kazuko Kuniyoshi A background article prepared under the auspices of U.S./Japan Cultural Trade Network for the 2004 U.S. tour of Akira Kasai Translated by Kyoko Yoshida, edited by Autumn Patterson Over the past 12-13 years, some drastic changes have taken place in the environment surrounding Japanese contemporary dance. A number of small to mid-sized theaters were newly built and opened1, various kinds of new dance festivals were organized, and theater facilities began to sponsor their own dance competitions2. The emergence of these new theaters, festivals and competitions has actively contributed to the advent of new kinds of dance in Japan. Additionally, government agencies and private corporations in Japan have granted funds in support of forming national and international networks of theaters, making it easier for theaters to provide support for individual dance artists. For example, the Japan Contemporary Dance Network (JCDN) recently facilitated the communication and partnership between many small theater facilities in Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, Kobe, Sapporo, and other cities. JCDN has also encouraged organizers to setup opportunities for interaction between dance artists and audiences, and has organized seminars around the topic of audience development, particularly to develop young audiences. They also made efforts to avoid isolating certain regions, not only by including them on touring routes, but also by involving them in communications at the planning stage. In a word, the infrastructure for the flow of information about domestic and international dance theater has been improving, and is contributing to the vitality of the current dance scene in Japan. 1 Including the opening of Yokohama Landmark Hall and Aichi Arts Center in 1993, and Setagaya Public Theater and New National Theatre, Tokyo in 1997. 2 In 1996, Park Tower Next Dance Festival, in 1999 SoloxDuo Competition, in 2000, Shizuoka Performing Arts Center Choreographers 1 This period of rapid change coincides with the period approximately 15 years after the death of Tatsumi Hijikata, the founder of butoh, when there was a significant change in the art form. Some contemporary dancers, such as Saburo Teshigawara, Kim Itoh and Kota Yamazaki partially overlap the butoh generation, having appeared on the scene in the late 1980s. However, most of the dancers who are in their prime today in the contemporary Japanese dance scene have had little, if any, interaction with butoh. In order to fully understand the current trends in contemporary dance in Japan, it is important to ask ourselves, how is butoh, which widely changed the concept of dance in the late 20th century, reflected or not reflected in contemporary dance in Japan today. From its very beginning, butoh was supposed to be a contemporary dance. However, when we examine the word “contemporary” in terms of today’s dance market, where the support system is rapidly developing and demanding new forms of dance, we must say that the definition of “contemporary” has changed much since the initial inception of butoh. In this article, I shall first review the history of butoh, and then discuss the issue of contemporary dance in Japan by closely looking at Akira Kasai, one of the most interesting dance artists today. Emergence of Butoh What is regarded as butoh today is a physical expression born out of “Ankoku butoh (Dance of Darkness),” which emerged from Japanese contemporary dance after World War II, and became prominent during the 1970s and 80s. When Tatsumi Hijikata (b. 1928 in Akita – d. 1986 in Tokyo) began creating his own works at the end of the 1950s, he aggressively incorporated socially taboo themes of sex and violence into his work, presenting a so-called “rebellion of the human body,” breaking the control of modern reasoning and constantly creating scandals. Hijikata broke away from the control of modern logic by facing the negative side of human beings, an aspect that had not been dealt with before in contemporary dance. (Hence the name “ankoku butoh” or “dance of darkness.”) He attempted to recapture the concept of the physical body not simply as a tool to convey certain linguistic meaning, but as an entity that owns its own time and Competition, in 2001 Asahi Performing Arts Award, in 2002, Toyota Choreography Award were initiated respectively. 2 space. In other words, Hijikata felt that the physical body demanded a new expression that did not exist before on stage. He was seen as a heretic in the contemporary dance community in Japan, but went on to develop ankoku butoh at a time when a new movement was happening in the contemporary visual arts world, as well. Hijikata avariciously absorbed these avant-garde trends in the arts world through his interactions with artists in the field of literary and visual arts. With a series of continuous performances, “Shikino tameno 27ban” (27 Nights for Four Seasons)” presented in 19723, Hijikata made a breakthrough performance and established an art form that would be passed down as his own. In this piece, Hijikata redefined the concept of physical body with his view that the human body was a container of enormous memories, from childhood to the moment just before one’s death. Techniques such as te-boke (absent minded hands), in which the dancer lets their hands wander anxiously in the air with no practical purpose, and gani mata (bandy legs), in which the body lowers the center of gravity, both of which were totally unheard of in the history of Western dance, were gradually established as techniques specific to Hijikata’s butoh. These techniques were developed mainly by women and were very powerful forms of expression for the lower body. This particular series of works by Hijikata, which seemingly emphasized the geographical climate of Tohoku [Northeastern Japan] were also called “Tohoku Kabuki.” They were seen as an effort to rediscover the physicality of Japanese people, which had been left behind in the process of modernization after the Meiji restoration. These techniques were labeled as “pre- modern” or “super-modern” and thus were regarded as a criticism to modernity. In this way, Hijikata’s Tohoku Kabuki can be seen as the beginnings of the post-modern dance movement in Japan. Looking back at the history of Western-style dance in Japan, various techniques of contemporary dance were developed from those of German and American contemporary dance, up to this point. It is no exaggeration to say that Japanese contemporary dance has intricately evolved, piling up only the Western techniques without sufficient 3 At the Art Theater Shinjuku Bunka in October, 1972. 3 understanding of the context behind them. Hijikata, by presenting his ill, withering, old and emaciated body, made powerful criticism on the existing expression and its context. Hijikata's theory included a paradoxical structure that the expressions are not valid until deconstructing not just the theory of dance, but of human existence itself. In the 1960s when Hijikata's ankoku butoh was starting to gain attention from a small group of people in Japan, post-modern dance started to catch people's attention in the U.S. In Japan, such dancers as Bonjin Atsugi and Suzushi Hanayagi, who were influenced heavily by the minimalism of American post-modern dance, brought in this new wind to the dance world. Atsugi, in particular, witnessed the progressive new movement in dance evolving around the Judson Dance Theater in New York City during the mid-1960s. Prior to living in New York City, Atsugi created works based on the dance classics4, but after the influence of the Judson Dance Theater, his works began to include more repeated, continuous movements that were carefully selected and inherited as ballet steps or limited simple actions. As a result, the formation and emotional aspects of the storylines were completely shut out, and instead, physical conditions and expressions themselves were vividly presented. Atsugi is in the same generation as Hijikata, but pioneered the post-modern dance movement in Japan with totally different concepts, and his contribution should really be more widely recognized than it is today. Kazuo Ohno, another butoh artist who supported the art form, was 20 years senior to Hijikata and Atsugi, and had already established a career as a modern dancer, having studied under the schools of German expressionism dance in the 1930s. Ohno met with Hijikata in the 1950s and, although their styles differed greatly, Ohno became an indispensable performing partner in many of Hijikata’s works. He then disappeared from the performance stage for a while, miraculously returning when he was 70 years old with Admiring La Argentina a piece dedicated to Spanish master dancer Antonia Merce. Following this come-back, Ohno performed such pieces as Watashino Okasan (My Mother) and Shikai (Dead Sea), directed by Hijikata. After Hijikata’s death, Ohno continued to create a number of works with his son, Yoshito Ohno. Today, Kazuo Ohno is 4 Another name for ballet. Ballet technique based on five foot positions, invented at the Royal Academy of Music in Paris in the 17th century.. 4 98 years old. As such, he cannot hide the weakness of his aging body, but he still performs as a butoh artist in his wheelchair. Ohno says that to live and to perform butoh need to be experienced with exactly equal weight. He has touched many people world wide with his commitment and determination to dance for as long as he lives. The advent of Akira Kasai Studying under Kazuo Ohno, Akira Kasai came into the Japanese contemporary dance scene in the 1960s. After his encounters with Ohno and Hijikata, Kasai proceeded to create an original butoh world for himself. He founded Tenshi-kan (House of the Angels) in 1971 and, besides creating his own works, has also been earnest in teaching his followers.

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